Letters to the Churches

Thyatira: Hold Fast What You Have

Revelation 2:18-29

March 2, 2005

"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer." [Ps. 19:14] Amen.

The text for our meditation this evening is the fourth of the Seven Letters to the Churches that our Lord Jesus wrote and had recorded for our edification in the Book of the Revelation, the 2^nd chapter beginning with the 18^th verse: “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write, ‘These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass: I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first. Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works. Now to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden. But hold fast what you have till I come. And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations-‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’-as I also have received from My Father; and I will give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”*

This letter to the angel of the church in Thyatira begins on a rather ominous note. Jesus introduces Himself as the Son of God, reminding us of His divine authority, indeed, His divinity, that He is God Himself, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, and all that entails. And then He goes on to describe Himself as the one “who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass. . . .” The phrase “eyes like a flame of fire” reminds us that He sees all things, that nothing can be hidden from His sight, not even those things that we do behind closed doors, not even those things that we keep locked up in the deepest, darkest dungeons of our minds. And the phrase “feet like fine brass” reminds us that He rules, even over His enemies, for it was the custom in those days for the conquering king to place his foot upon the necks of his defeated enemies to show his rule over them, and our Lord Jesus Christ is nothing less than our conquering Lord and King. All things have been put under His feet, and He has been given to be head over all things. And so, at the very beginning of this letter He reminds us of His divine power and authority, and of His ultimate victory which belongs not only to Himself, but also to all who believe in Him.

He has some good things to say about the church in Thyatira: “I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first.” This part is all good! Not only have they done the works our Lord Jesus Christ has given them to do, but they continue to do them, so that the latter works are even more than the works they did at first. “Nevertheless,” He goes on to say, “I have a few things against you. . . .” Not all is good in the church in Thyatira. There are a few things that He has against them. And why does He have a few things against them? “. . . because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.”

Now who is this ‘Jezebel woman’ that our Lord Jesus Christ speaks about here? We don’t know a lot about her. We don’t even know if her name is really Jezebel. Most reliable commentators are of the opinion that it is not, but that by calling the woman in question ‘Jezebel’ our Lord Jesus Christ was comparing her to that Jezebel we read about in the book of Kings. That Jezebel was the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians, and she was a most wicked queen. She married Ahab, king of Israel and she was responsible for introducing to the Israelites the worship of Baal and along with the worship of Baal she introduced all kinds of sexual immorality among the people of God, for the two went hand-in-hand. Sexual immorality was a part of the worship of Baal.

She was, indeed, a most wicked queen, and while she lived she led so many of God’s people into idolatry that Elijah, when he fled to the mountain of God for fear that she would kill him, uttered this reason for being there: “I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.” [1 Kings 19:14b] Now Elijah was not totally correct. He was not the only one left. God had reserved for Himself 7000 who had not bowed the knee to Baal. But 7000 were not many in all the land of Israel, and at that time it certainly seemed to Elijah as though he was the only one left.

The woman in question, whether she was actually named ‘Jezebel’ or not is besides the point, for she was just as wicked as that Old Testament queen. She, too, was responsible for introducing sexual immorality and idolatry to the people of God. She, too, was leading God’s people away from God and into sin.

But the sin of idolatry and the sin of sexual immorality is not the main problem our Lord Jesus Christ is addressing here. He addressed these problems at length in the last letter. The problem that our Lord Jesus Christ is addressing here is this, that although the pastor and apparently the majority of the congregation are not themselves participating in either the sin or in the false teaching, they are allowing it to go on and are doing nothing to stop it. As a result more and more of God’s people were being led astray by this woman into sin, death, and the grave.

“A little leaven leavens the whole lump.” A little false teaching, if it is allowed to remain, will destroy everything!

This is why St. Paul writes in his letter to the Romans, “. . . I urge you, brethren, note those who cause division and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them.” [Rom. 16:1] and again he writes in his first letter to Timothy, “If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself.” [1 Timothy 6:3-5]

It is the duty of every Christian and especially of the pastor to oppose every false teaching that makes its way into the church, for it is not the false teaching that saves, but only the true teaching, the true teaching that we are sinners in need of forgiveness, the forgiveness that our Lord Jesus Christ earned for us on the cross by His innocent sufferings and death, the forgiveness that He freely gives, having risen from the dead, to all who believe in Him!

This burden of opposing the false teachers in their midst is enough for the church in Thyatira to bear. And so our Lord Jesus Christ says, “Now to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden.” The burden they already have to oppose the false teaching is enough. “But hold fast what you have till I come. And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations-‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron; They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’-as I also have received from My Father; and I will give him the morning star.” That is, I will give Him Myself, for Jesus Christ is the bright morning star.

Now as for the one “who calls herself a prophetess,” our Lord Jesus Christ is dealing with her Himself. “I gave her time to repent,” He said, “of her sexual immorality and she did not repent.” The Lord is long-suffering but there is a time when His patience comes to an end. “Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds.” He has called her to repent and she did not. He now calls those who have been following her to repent. If they will repent, He will forgive them, for our Lord Jesus Christ is willing to forgive us all! But if they do not repent, they will suffer along with her: “I will kill her children with death,” He says, not only the physical death that we all die, but also that eternal death which is eternal torment in the fires of hell, “and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works.” Those whose works are evil because they do not believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, will receive evil. Those whose works are good because they believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, will receive good.

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Amen.